Best classical suites music according to redditors

The one complaint I have about this is that many of these pieces deserve to be listened to in their entirety. I don't generally like Germanic operas - and listening to the entire Ring Series from Wagner would take something like 9 hours - and even then there are relatively few songs that stand out to me. With that in mind, I'd like to first thank you for putting this up and add just a bit to what you've already listed. I've tried to find some of the best recordings I can, which are often very cheap from Amazon if you buy them used.

Carmen is one of the very best operas, but that's for another discussion. You really can't go wrong with anything from Bizet.

Also Sprach Zarathustria is an entire work. The piece most commonly known from 2001: A Space Odyssey is merely the first piece.

Carmina Burana most certainly belongs in this list, as its signature piece (O Fortuna) is frequently used for a cheap dramatic effect.

I am fairly certain the band name "Modest Mouse" is a direct reference to a classical composer, Modest Moussorgsky.

Numbers listed refer to the track number in the listed album.

Album/Work|Composer|Notable examples
:----|:----|:----
Peer Gynt Suite | Edvard Grieg | 1 - Morning Mood, 4 - In the Hall of the Mountain King
The Nutcracker | Tchaikovsky | 3 - March, 19 - Waltz of the Flowers, 22 - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Carmen / L'Arlésienne Suites | Georges Bizet | 1 - Les Toréadors, 2-3 - Prelude / Aragonaise, Habanera
Also Sprach Zarathustria, bonus: The Planets | Richard Stauss, bonus: Holst | 1 - Einleitung or Sonnenaufgang (prelude or sunrise), 10 - Mars, the Bringer of War, 12 - Mercury, the Winged Messenger
Carmina Burana | Carl Orff | 1 & 25 - O Fortuna, 6 - Tanz, 15 - Amor Volat Undique
Pictures at an Exhibition / Night on Bald Mountain | Modest Moussorgsky | 12 - The Great Gate of Kiev, 16 - Night on Bald Mountain (Fantasia version)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Greatest Hits | Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov | 1 - Flight of the Bumblebee, 10 - Procession of the Nobles, 6 - Fandago Asturiano

I'll hazard some suggestions:

Mozart: Piano Concerti, Uchida/Tate/English Chamber Orchestra

Bach: Mass in B Minor, Gardiner

Debussy: La Mer/Nocturnes etc., Boulez/Cleveland

Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, Boulez/Chicago

Beethoven: op. 59 quartets, Tokyo SQ

Webern: Works for String Quartet, Emerson SQ

Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire, Ensemble Intercontemporain

Bach: Orchestral Suites, Neville Marriner

Mahler: 9th Symphony, Karajan/Berlin

Schubert: Winterreise and Goethe Lieder, Fischer-Dieskau

And Karajan doing the Brahms symphonies on DVD.

Get these recordings.

• Bach's Concertos for Piano and Orchestra
  
• Dvorak's Cello Concerto
  
• Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije
  
• Vivaldi's Wind Concertos
  
• Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms
  
• Scriabin's Piano Sonatas
  
• Tartini's Devil's Sonata
  
  These may not be the best known works of classical music, but they're each incredible works, and if the least they do is make you want to hear more classical music, then they've done their job.

Reiner

It was this recording of some stuff by Bach, incidentally.

Tchaikovsky's The Seasons (orchestrated by the Soviet conductor Gauk). I highly recommend this recording by Jarvi. Gorgeous music and a very effective orchestration, a must listen!

If you are looking for manly adventure soundtrack stuff, perhaps you would like this release of some of Prokofiev's movie music. They do let ladies sing, but only in the "lamentation of their women" type of way.

Played this (and the Second Suite) in HS concert band. A terrific piece.

Was ecstatic when browsing the new Telarc CD releases back in the 80s when I found this release.

Seconding the suites for band. They're some of my favorite works. This album is one of the best I own